Havisham
by Gabi Howard
Summary: “Honestly, little thing,” Kira intoned softly. “I’d have thought you’d be used to me by now. You were the one that called me into being after all...” Cowritten with shirosunday.
1. Matsuda

**Havisham**

--

**Author's Note:** Gah, I hate these, but there we go. This is the result of my GCSE poetry studies (hence the title and quote) and far too much My Chemical Romance. It looks set to be a three-parter, and is cowritten by shirosunday, which is lovely of her cosidering she's had so much on lately. Thanks shiro!

--

_Beloved sweetheart bastard. Not a day since then I haven't wished him dead. Prayed for it so hard I've dark green pebbles for eyes, ropes on the back of my hands I could strangle with._ Carol Anne Duffy, _Havisham_

--

Matsuda blinked. Then blinked again.

'_What the hell…?'_

He was standing in the middle of the old task force HQ- the one they'd been in after the confinements, back when the original L was still alive. But it was different now. It was colder, harsher - and instead of metal, the walls seemed to be made of shattered glass, reflecting the rest of the room in a thousand insane angles.

He barely had time to take it in before a voice rang out behind him.

"So- what do you think?" Matsuda whirled round to see the figure of Teru Mikami in the glass, his shape distorted by the fragments. "I'm told it's been redecorated, but I never saw the original, so I wouldn't know."

It took Matsuda a moment to find his voice; when he did, he was careful to keep his guard up. "Where are we?"

Teru shrugged. "You know the place better than me. Where do you think we are?"

"The old headquarters, but…"

"But what? Like I said, it's changed, but it still serves a purpose."

"What do you…"

"…mean? Simply put- it was built to catch Kira, but now _we_ use it instead." Like Mikami, it had been a long time since he'd heard that voice, but he hadn't forgotten it. Couldn't forget.

"Takada Kiyomi." He muttered as he turned to see her image, like Mikami's, scattered amidst the glass.

"You would be Matsuda, I take it?" she smiled- showing her teeth, making her look disturbingly predatory. "I've heard some… interesting things about you."

"You have?" he swallowed, unsure of how to react. "That's… good."

"For us, perhaps. Not so for you, I'm afraid." The grin had travelled to Mikami's face now; Takada had begun to giggle almost hysterically.

"Matsuda-kun!" the high-pitched squeal echoed through the room as Misa appeared on the wall above the doors. "Misa thought she'd never see you again."

"But you're all dead!" Matsuda protested, gesturing at Misa "I was there when they buried you!"

"You were, and we are." Mikami confirmed. "And perhaps, since you so evidently want us to be dead, we should look the part a little more. Don't you agree, Kiyomi-chan?" he continued, as the woman's giggles became shrieks of insanity and pain.

"Kiyomi-chan is so pretty…" Misa sighed. Matsuda could only watch, horrified, as flames engulfed the woman's body. "It's such a pity to waste it all, neh Mikami-kun?"

"Indeed. But, if Matsuda-san wishes us to be dead, then we must of course oblige." He had barely finished speaking when his midriff tore open. Blood gushed out, becoming corporeal, splashing on the glass and trickling down through the cracks until it began to form a puddle on the floor. Mikami staggered from side to side, not taking his eyes off Matsuda, his mouth opening and closing in silent laughter. Held in a macabre sense of awe by the sight, he almost failed to notice the thud from behind him. And when he turned, he wished he had.

Misa's face had been smashed almost beyond recognition, her body twisted and broken. Only her hair seemed to have escaped the battering, splayed out like a golden cloud on the floor. Takada then shrieked with hysterical laughter, making Matsuda look up at the still burning body. She pointed at something behind him with her charred fingers, melted, black skin dripping from them like oil.

"You thought death could stop us? That you could get rid of us so easily?" a smooth voice purred as a disjointed shadow appeared in the shattered mirrors. Matsuda's eyes widened in recognition, shivers running down his spine and settling in a cold ball of dread in his stomach.

'_Oh no, please, anything but him…'_

"What's wrong, Matsu? You look as though you've seen a ghost." Matsuda shut his eyes tight, shaking his head as though the voice were inside, as if the action would dislodge it and end this horrible, horrible nightmare…

"He won't go away, you know." Mikami sneered at him from the wall, still bleeding, the puddle of blood slowly oozing its way towards Matsuda's feet.

"He won't, he won't, he _won't_!" Misa chanted, moving around like a puppet on the floor as she turned her gory, crushed face to Mikami, a pair of absurdly sinister doe eyes looking on as though he had just declared something of deep wisdom.

"Turn around, Matsuda." That voice- he honestly didn't know how long he'd be able to stand it.

"No."

"Turn around."

"No."

"I said…"

"NO!" Matsuda yelled, whirling around automatically on his heel to face his taunter, realising his mistake a moment too late.

Light Yagami- Kira- threw back his head and laughed as he had on the day he'd died.

"Ever the joker, Matsuda, ever the fool." He sneered.

"B-better that than a murderer!" Matsuda stammered, looking with abhorrence at his former 'friend'. Light had changed drastically. Gone was the handsome, confident young man- even the terrified, insane murderer of the Warehouse could not be found here. He now looked like… a corpse. He was still wearing the black suit, but there were holes in all the places Matsuda had shot him, black coagulated blood and seemingly half-rotted skin visible through the frayed threads. His tie was gone and his dirty white shirt was fully unbuttoned making his torso visible. His chest, Matsuda saw in horror, had a hole going right through where his heart should have been, threaded with a blue-grey crystalline growth that resembled a macabre spider's web. Drops of blood trailed their way along the crystals and trickled down his stomach, seeping into the blackness of his trousers.

Matsuda could hardly breathe, his mouth half open in shock. Tearing his eyes away from the ghastly sight, he finally looked at Light's face. He was smirking… and his eyes were tinged with red.

"What happened to you?" breathed Matsuda, horrified. Light looked at him scornfully.

"A combination of you, Near and Ryuk, of course." His voice was sardonic as he began to slowly circle the detective. "I'm still working out a way to get through to Ryuk, but until then, confining my revenge to you and the brat will have to do."

"What have you done to him?"

"Nothing yet. At the moment, I'm merely practising, since I guessed your mind would be that much easier to break."

"You're insane!"

Light shrugged. "Perhaps, but it's a fine line to cross."

"It's a fine, fine line…" Misa crooned, hugging her smashed limbs to herself, cracking sounds audible, and grinning.

Matsuda felt sick.

"And to be perfectly honest, Matsuda-san," Light continued "I think you've already crossed it once. Do the words 'Yellow Box' mean anything to you?"

"Don't…" Matsuda clamped his hands over his ears. "I'm not listening to you!"

"January 28th, 2012," Light grasped his wrists in an ice-cold grip, pulling them away from his head viciously as his voice became more forceful, almost angry. Matsuda gazed up at him with wide, frightened eyes. "You found out I was Kira and allowed those emotions of yours to take over. You didn't just shoot to stop me writing dear Nate's name down, oh no. You shot me again," Light slapped him.

"… and again," Slap.

"… and again!" Slap. Matsuda was reeling. "…because you were _angry_. Now tell me, _Matsuda-san_, what makes you any better than us?" he gestured towards the trio in the mirrors, who smiled and giggled and shrieked again at the inclusion.

"I… I was saving Near!" Matsuda protested. Light grasped his face in both hands, digging his nails painfully into his skin.

"Were you listening to _anything_ I just said?" He opened his mouth as if to continue, then paused. His expression changed to a sneer as he ran his thumb along Matsuda's cheekbone. "What's this? Tears again, Matsuda-san? I'd have expected better, even from you…"

"Get off me!" yelled Matsuda, stumbling backwards and falling to the floor where, in his panic, he began dragging himself backwards. "Get the hell _away_ from me!"

Light only laughed again, harder and harsher than before. "Oh, this is sweet!" he hissed, baring his teeth at Matsuda, continued to struggle backwards as the boy? _demon? _coolly stepped towards him. "Do you realise how utterly _pathetic _you look, lying there? I imagine it's similar to what you reduced me to, only less painful." He caught up with Matsuda, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him hard. "Don't you like it, Matsuda-san? You were quick enough to deal it to me, after all."

"Get off me!" Matsuda shouted again, flailing about with his fists. He vaguely heard voices in his head calling out urgently, but he couldn't work out who it was they were calling out to, much less what they were saying. "G-get off!" he sobbed, pleaded, implored (anything to make him stop!) "Get off!"

Light's grip on Matsuda slackened as the laughter of his fellow-murderers now echoed eerily in the background. Something pricked his arm, and he felt Light's lips beside his ear as the world slowly began to fade.

"_I win._"

--

_The stretcher was loaded onto the ambulance with practiced care. The man strapped to it had finally calmed, and a few shivering onlookers were already returning to their beds as someone called his next of kin. As the doors closed on Matsuda Touta, a dark figure on his roof- invisible to all who cared to look- unfurled its wings._

"_One down, two to go," the being grinned to itself, its red tinted eyes glinting wickedly in the lamplight._

_After all, even Shinigami could be made to dream…_


	2. Near

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**Author****s' Note:** Just a warning- this chapter involves smut. It's not explicit (at least, not too much so), but it's there. You have been warned.

--

Near looked around the unfamiliar room. He was at the old SPK headquarters just a minute ago, playing with a fresh deck of Tarot cards, and then when he blinked, he suddenly found himself _here_. Where _here _was, he had no idea, and he was finding it all a little confusing. He shuffled about and saw that the walls were made of shattered glass, so he saw himself distorted and skewed, clutching on to his doll and twirling his white hair with his forefinger.

Suddenly, he saw a figure walk out of a door in the reflection, but he turned to the room behind him to see who it was, there was no one there. He turned back to the mirror and saw that it was Light Yagami, no, Kira chained to a tall, hunched, dark-haired man. They were making their way to the computer station in the center of the space.

Near stopped twirling his hair and looked backwards to do a double take, but there was really nothing there but empty chairs and empty tables.

When he turned back, there were suddenly more people behind the glass. He recognized Soichiro Yagami, Touta Matsuda, Hideki Ide and Shuichi Aizawa. They seemed to be conversing about something and he caught that the dark haired man chained to Light was called 'Ryuuzaki.'

'Ryuuzaki'… that was the codename L had used when he worked with the task force, or so the team had told him after the Warehouse when he asked for the full story on Kira. Now that he looked more closely, the man looked very much as the investigators had described to him. Thin, listless, slouching, strange way of holding things and sitting… _'This was L!' _Near thought in awe, _'but how…?'_

A movement on the side made Near turn and see another image of 'L' and Light Yagami in a hotel room as L made an announcement: "Light-kun is my very first friend."

Near smirked, thinking, _'Good move. It would've been the last thing Kira would have expected._' A surge of respect ran through him. This _must_ really be L! Even if this was some sort of dream or illusion, it hardly mattered. For the first time, he was seeing his hero in action- and he was in awe.

His eyes then shifted to another scene where the team was talking. Light seemed to have been admitting he was Kira and asking for L to confine him. Near frowned at this. _'Was this how he manipulated L?'_

A shrill shout then made Near look to a far wall and see L and Light handcuffed to each other while Misa Amane was making a fuss, screeching accusations L was perverted, that he was chaining her beloved Light to him for pleasure. Here Near scoffed. _'This coming from a girl practically luring the type with her barely-there clothing and racy outfits? How dare she?'_

He moved to his side in irritation making him face a piece of glass where L clearly said, "I want Light-kun to take the title of L when I die."

The world suddenly froze for Nate River. Did he hear that right? L wanted _Kira_ to replace him in case he died? _'What? No, another trick, it's got to be…'_

From the corner of his eye, Near saw more movement and so turned again only to watch, aghast, as Light kissed L almost hesitatingly, then the listless older man slowly lifting his hand, cupping Light's cheek and closing his eyes…

A sound of laughter came from the side, making Near tear his eyes away from the sight. Light and L were in a kitchen without any shirts or the chain, trying to smear each other's faces with cake. Light gave an uncharacteristic yelp as a well-placed handful from L found its way into his ear then laughing, grabbed the older man by the waist and nuzzled his neck as L reached up to run his hands through the his auburn hair with a moan. Near's jaw dropped.

"Light-kun," murmured a monotone from behind him. Near whipped his head around and saw L and Light in a bedroom, holding each other. L took Light's face between his hands, chains tinkling with the movement. Light's arms encircled the waist of the detective, pulling him tighter into the embrace. They kissed softly at first, and then slowly intensified. Near was glued to the scene as it played. His eyes were wide as he stared, unblinking, hardly breathing.

When the two began to undress each other, Near let out a gasp of shock. He thought he caught sight of Light glancing at him with a flash of red eyes, then looking away; but he wasn't at all sure whether he'd just imagined it. He was focused on the dark haired man.

This was L, greatest detective in the world? His predecessor? The very man he was trying to emulate- _this _was L? This pale, skinny man, so deftly being seduced by _Kira_, of all people? And if not, stooping as low as sex to get information? No… no, that couldn't be right! He watched in stunned silence as the two men, now completely naked, their shirts dangling from the chain, moved to one side of the room, running their fingers down each other's e

"L, L, L," Light whispered as he kissed and grazed his teeth down the pale man's chest.

"Li… Light-kun!" L panted, his fists grasping Light's hair and twisting amidst the strands.

Near gasped as Light took a pale nipple into his mouth and lapped it, eliciting another moan from the man underneath. Pale hands grabbed golden shoulders and hauled them up to make hungry lips and tongues meet each other again and again and Near's head slowly began to shake side to side in disbelief, as the lower parts of the two bodies began a rhythm against each other. The moans and gasps became louder, echoing in the room as every single shard and frame of mirror reflected the scene in a million different angles.

The rhythm became faster and L threw his head back, eyes shut and mouth open, "Ah! Light-kun! I.. I…!"

It was then that Light turned his head and looked sideways at the white haired boy, sneering and his eyes red with malice as he locked them with Near's. "Say it, L- I want to hear it…" he said, still looking at the lad.

"I wanted… to tell Li- _aah!_- Light-kun that I…" L arched his back, moaning again as Light moved against him.

"Say it, L." The man hissed. "Go on- say it!"

"I l-love… love him!"

Near blinked, shocked. So it wasn't all a ploy to…? No- it was all fake! It had to be! Just another mind game...

Light curled his arms around L's lithe frame as he angled the pale body with its back to Near, red-tinted eyes still locked with their watcher. _No,_ he mouthed. _He's mine- now, then and forever... _His mouth, still hovering over L's neck, darted down and his teeth bit into the white flesh. L screamed as the wounds bled around the perfectly white teeth embedded in them, and Near watched in horror as the skin beneath the blood seemed to crystallise, then collapse inwards. The two figures slowly fell to the floor on their knees, not letting go of each other. The red liquid flowed faster than should have been possible, engulfing the detective as he continued to scream. It seemed to go on forever, but whether or not L was still making the sound was unclear- it was ringing in Near's head, echoing through the room as L's body shattered completely, leaving Light kneeling alone in a still-expanding pool of blood, never once breaking eye contact with the shocked boy.

He stood and after a moment, began to walk forwards slowly. Despite the glass in between them, Near found himself backing away, clutching at his toy as though it alone could halt the advance of this… _monster_ before him. No longer was Yagami simply a murderer, oh no. He was a rapist- of minds and of bodies- and for the first time in his short life, Near was very, very scared. There was no control in this situation, no Death Notes to manipulate it with, nothing. Heck, he wasn't L here, or even N.

This was just Nate Rivers, and whatever it was Light Yagami had become.

The older man continued to step forward until he came to the mirror, and stopped. He raised an eyebrow at Near, and before the boy had a chance to work out what it meant, he was shown.

Light's next step carried him through the glass as though it simply wasn't there. As he stared Near down, more images began flickering to life around them. Flames danced across the mirrors, knives flashed. He heard a woman screaming to the sound of a man's yells, maniacal laughter weaving between the sounds as he heard the distinct noise of flesh being cut. Smoke trails curled around bloodstained pieces of chocolate as Matt's drawl was cut off by gunshots, Mello's sneering laughter trailing into a choked strangling noise that would not end, would. Near helplessly shook his head from side to side and plugged his fingers into his ears, forgetting his doll in the attempt to just _make it stop…!_ But they wouldn't go, wouldn't leave- he couldn't shut the images out, held as he was by bright, red-tinged eyes and the screams of his former friends.

Light picked up his doll from where he'd dropped it on the floor and for a moment examined it detachedly. Near looked at the man and noticed there was no dirt on him- no blood, nothing. But then he began to change. The hands tossed the toy aside began to turn grey and pallid, the skin rotting and in places falling away. Even the chain on his wrist rusted, falling into dust around his ankles. Tattered wings sprouted from his back with an ominous, painful-sounding creak as black, half-coagulated blood oozed from the places where he'd been shot back in the Warehouse. A hole opened up where his heart should have been where blue-grey crystals grew from the edges, forming into threads and working their way through the gap in his body. Near frantically looked around in an attempt to find an escape from the visual torture before him, but there was none. Death, blood, decay… there was no escape. Light- no, _Kira_- crouched before him, naked and rotting like the demon he was.

"I wonder- did you ever read the Bible, Nate-san?" He mused, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. Near only blinked in response- '_What_…_?'_

He was interrupted when Light grasped his hands in a freezing, vice-like grip. "Then he said unto Near," he said as he lifted the boy's hands slowly, "reach hither thy finger, and _behold thy_ _hands!_" at the last word, he gave the hands a vicious yank up to eye level, and Near stared as blood ran from his palms, trickling down his wrist and soaking into his shirt as more of it spilled from every pore on the skin there. Within seconds, his sleeves were saturated and in every place the blood touched, the pores opened and bled freely. There was a puddle forming around his legs, he noted dazedly, growing with every passing moment.

"You see that?" his torturer intoned. "That is what has always been on your hands, ever since you took up the Death Note. You murdered Takada, Mikami too, and you left your _dear_ friends Mello and Matt to die alone whilst you hid in your SPK fortress, playing with your toys, safely away from anything that might have hurt you. Look at it, Near. The blood you spilled." The monster smirked. "Do you think you can be L, Near? L's hands were clean of the guiltless. He even went out of his way to protect his supposed comrades. You, on the other hand, are selfish little brat. You treated everyone like one of your fucking toys, and you still think you're good enough to be L?" Light scoffed. "Near, Near, Near, You are far from worthy of his title. He may have solved cases because he liked to play, but you just like to _win_."

"Who gives you the right to say such things?" Near said, his voice almost shaking from the sensation of his own blood clinging to his skin, but otherwise retaining his normal detached calmness. "You killed him. You're nothing but a murderer."

"It was the game. He was mine, as I was his, to kill. I just got him first."

"L wasn't _yours_."

"Yes he was, Near. He still is. He is my equal, and nobody else's. Why?" Light quirked a brow. "Did you think he was yours?" He mocked, looking down at Near in distaste. "He didn't even think you were important enough to see in person! But me? He actually went out of his little safety bubble of a world to meet me, to be with me_._ And you, little brat? You only spoke with him through that silly little laptop. You didn't even know what he looked like did you?"

"He was just using you! He was just trying to get you to confess. Trying to prove you were Kira!" The blood was seeping down his chest now.

"Perhaps... But that doesn't change the fact that he acknowledged me as his equal and his lover. You, on the other hand, were hardly a second thought to him. A mere back-up plan, and not even the only one of those. You are inferior, _Nate_, and you always will be."

"I am his heir!" Near growled.

"By mere test scores. He never did choose you, did he?"

"I…" Near was speechless for a moment.

'_I want Light-kun to be the next L_…_'_

"You weren't good enough. You're _not_ good enough."

'_I want Light-kun to replace me_…_'_

"I… I got to you Kira!" He shouted.

"And we both know how: deception and murder. How hypocritical," The monster smirked, glancing over at the discarded doll. "Look, Near,"

Near did not look. Light's face grew angry then, "I said LOOK!" He yanked Near's head around until his eyes were resting upon the effigy of himself, lying metres away.

"Now watch. Your toyswant to play with you, dear Nate." The blood on the floor moved outwards, met it and engulfed it in the same way it had done to L. When the mass subsided, only the doll's head was left- cracked in half and grinning as it rolled across the floor on the edge of the blood pool. It stopped perfectly aligned to Near's vision, looking at him with a mocking, crudely-painted smile. The flames rose and roared, illuminating the pale head eerily. From the mirror, dark eyes set in bloody ruined faces seemed to be staring at him, accusing him of every crime there was.

"And now..." Light entwined his fingers in the boy's hair, pulling his head round and up to look the killer in the eye. "..._feel_."

His nails were digging into his scalp, and Near felt the blood on the floor and on his hands and arms running all over him, never entering his body, merely encircling it, enclosing it, rising up and around until he found himself suffocating beneath the red mass. He couldn't move. His pyjamas, now stained red, began to be covered in slender cracks, making it look like a fragile net, and slowly crumbling to the blood stained floor. He felt his skin hardening, then becoming brittle as he heard the soft cracking sounds made by lines running along every capillary and vein beneath. The blood touched his neck and he began to scream.

"No. No! NO! _NO!_ This is just a dream! A nightmare!" He insisted, his voice getting higher in pitch as the blood worked its way up his throat.

"Is it now?" Light crooned. "Does it feel like a dream?"

"NO, STOP!" It was now crawling its way to the tip of his chin.

"NO! LET ME GO! PLEASE!" It had been the first time he'd used that word in his life, but he was too busy struggling to care. The blood was running along his lips now as voices from behind the glass began laughing, cursing, screaming… His fingers were beginning to disintegrate into dust…

"Please! Make it stop! Make it STOP! PLE-!" Near's voice was cut off as the blood twisted its way around his tongue, rendering it useless. Now he could only scream, the hoarse sounds trailing off into gargles as the thick liquid worked it way down into his lungs. Light finally released him, laughing, and he fell to the floor, making a sickening crash as his shoulder shattered on impact. Soon the blood was coming of his eyes as if it were tears, running down the pale face and streaking it morbidly; with one final scream, the world turned black as his eye balls were enveloped entirely.

--

_All was quiet in what had once been the SPK headquarters. Toys __were scattered across the floor, half buried in the fallen mountains of tarot cards circling around the body of the catatonic boy in the centre of the room. Halle Lidner stepped across the mess and began shaking the white-clad figure frantically._

"_Near! Near, wake up! Near!"_

_The shaking dislodged a card in the boy's hand, but its fall to the floor went unnoticed as a flurry of frantic movement and near hysterical shouts commenced in the cold room. _

_The card of Death lay beside Nate River, upturned__ - the Grim Reaper upon it frozen in silent laughter to echo that of the unseen creature in the corner._

_The being chuckled, his image reflected in hollow eyes._

_Only one more to go..._

_And he would be the best of all._


	3. Ryuk

**--**

Ryuk blinked. This place... it was vaguely familiar, but at the same time... not. It looked almost like that place Light had killed L in (now that had been _fun_ to watch), but the walls were covered in broken glass of some kind.

Hang on. He'd blinked, and as the thought entered his head, he realised he was breathing. Shinigami didn't breathe, and he didn't blink, so why...?

He looked down at himself, and got something of a shock as he realised his body looked - _human?_ Pink flesh? Straight limbs? He turned towards the shattered glass and confirmed it. There he was, clad in the same garb, complete with chains, skulls and the dangling heart shaped earring, but his skin – it was pale but not its usual dead bluish white colour. It was pinkish. Yellowish? He couldn't really tell in the dim light but it definitely looked fleshy, at least. His normally bulging yellow eyes appeared normal enough since they were staring at himself widely, but instead of black streaks of skin, they were framed by eyeliner covered eyelids and a fringe of black lashes. In awe, he saw that his normally pointy yellow teeth were quite blunt and slightly crooked as it was bordered by thin sallow lips currently shaped in a stunned 'o'. He reached up to touch his messily spiked hair, and realized his usually long knobby fingers had lost their sharpness and were just average looking human hands with horrendously dirty finger nails. He watched his reflection slowly pause from touching his hair and slowly reach out. His fingers were almost touching the glass when…

"Ryuuku!"

He whirled around to see a definitely familiar figure running towards him.

"Misa?" he breathed. _What the hell?_

"Misa-Misa missed Ryuuku!" The girl squealed, throwing herself into Ryuk's arms.

He staggered back a bit with the surprising force the petite blonde had. He looked down at the girl as she looked up and gave him a wide red-lipped grin. Ryuk frowned in utter confusion with his arms suspended in mid-air.

"Didn't Ryuuku miss me?"

"Wha…?"

Thin arms suddenly released him, and the flaxen head skipped a few steps backward. Misa then began to wave something in front of his face. "Did you miss _this_?"

Ryuk's bloodshot eyes widened impossibly further. She had his Death Note.

"Hey, give that...!" Ryuk stepped forward and tried to snatch the notebook, but Misa simply made a pirouette to avoid his grasp. Laughing she spun to the opposite wall and began flipping through the pages. Ryuk followed her and kept flailing in ungraceful attempts to grab his possession only for Misa to twirl again and again to keep it from his reach.

"There's a lot of names in here, Ryuuku." The girl told him, seeming to ignore his attempts to regain the Note. "So many people dead so you could live."

Ryuk almost growled in frustration but then another voice rang out before he could.

"Such a long life, too. Formed entirely on the blood of others..."

He froze and felt himself grow cold- there was no way he could fail to recognise that voice. He slowly looked up, and though he could not see its owner, he knew he was there.

"Others like us."

He felt his throat abruptly go dry, but commanded his lips to stretch into the wide toothy smirk which had been his trademark. "Hey Lighto," he said in a slightly shaky voice, hoping Light hadn't heard the quiver. "Long time no see."

There was a dark chuckle. "Indeed. And I'm sure that, before long, you'll wish there had been more of it." A shadow blossomed into view, gradually coalescing and forming a shape. "But for now, you may enjoy your current freedom from pain. It won't be long-lasting, I assure you."

The form then stopped shifting and a human-shaped figure appeared flanked by ominous dark wings. Ryuk had seen enough humans turned into Shinigamis not to blink at Light's new appearance, but when a sinister grin was sent his way, the glint in Light's eyes, made him damn near lose his composure. Gone was the well-groomed pretty boy- in his place was a twisted, corpse-like _thing_ that was well on the way to being a full shinigami. It seemed like death had done Light Yagami's appearance no favours, and if the look on his face was anything to go by, the kid's mind had rotted along with it.

"So, Ryuk," Light's eyes met his, and he noticed that they were tinted blood red. "How many years did my death give you, exactly?"

"Heh, Light," He tried to huff in nonchalance, but his voice betrayed him and sounded just as nervous as he felt. "You know I can't tell you..."

"Oh, come on. It's hardly as though I'm going to be able to try and protect myself in my final days, is it?" When Ryuk said nothing, he shrugged. "Ah well. I just hope it's long enough for me to be able to enjoy watching you suffer. Misa, how many names are there?"

The blonde girl giggled as she cocked her head in accordance with every flip of the Death Note pages she made. "Misa Misa doesn't know- there's too many for her to count!"

Light smirked. "Give it here, then."

"Anything Misa's Light-kun says!" The girl handed the Note over as though she was performing some high act of worship, a look of excited wonder in her wide doe eyes. Light paid her no attention, opening the book and casually flicking through.

"I'd say a few hundred, roughly." The grin on his face widening as he snapped the Note closed. That certainly could mean nothing but bad for Ryuk, who found himself backing away. "What's the matter, Ryuk? Don't fancy a taste of your own medicine?"

"It doesn't taste very nice, you know," Misa whispered conspiratorially. "Misa thinks it's a bit nasty really."

Ryuk found himself taking more steps back. "What do you mean?" She just gave Ryuk another smile before she broke into laughter and spun around, dancing.

"Oh, you'll find out soon enough." Light assured him, still smirking darkly.

"We must not look at goblin men," Misa chanted in a singsong voice, "we must not eat their fruits. Who knows upon what soil they feed their hungry, dirty roots?" She was holding a plump human apple in one hand and tearing it apart with the other. Great chunks of juicy white flesh along with bright red skin were thrown to the floor near Ryuk's feet as she twirled about. The bits of fruit then seemed to seep into the tiles, distorting them as if the spots on which they landed were made of goo. When the morsels completely disappeared one by one, stillness pervaded the room.

Ryuk looked back and forth from where the apple bits were, to Light and to the still dancing Misa. He didn't realize the grin on his face had transformed into a frown of confusion. Light stood silently, not taking his eyes off his old Shinigami, clearly amused at the situation.

Suddenly a deep rumbling could be heard, and Ryuk hardly had any time to consider what it could've been before the ground cracked and dark reddish-gray vines grew around him. They sprouted upwards to the ceiling as thorns burst simultaneously from the stems. The tendrils then curled outwards as they kept growing and growing, engulfing every surface within their barbs.

Ryuk took a step back in surprise which brought him into contact with a rock that hadn't been there before, but before he could do anything about getting around it, the vines snaked around his legs and pushed him further backwards to the solid stone. The thorns cut into his flesh, and he gasped as he was pressed back harder as needle covered ropes wrapped themselves around his limbs. In a few moments, he was trapped and in morbid awe, he stared as red liquid ran down the vines and thorns and splattered on the floor.

He was bleeding.

Unblinking eyes looked towards the wounds and he could see his human skin gaping open, some so deep they revealed something whitish surrounded by pinkish and reddish cords.

Muscles and bone.

His breathes now came much, much quicker and the tears in his flesh felt unbearably hot. His stomach was contracting, his hands and fingers were shaking; every single spasm seemed to be making its way to his throat. He had seen this before. It was all too familiar. He had watched humans like this many, many times before. He realized then that he was in_ excruciating_ _pain_.

"GAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

"Hmm, now let's see." Light flicked open the Death Note at random, as Ryuk let out his guttural scream. He came to rest on a page almost halfway through. "Elspeth Johnson," he read. "I'm sure, will be pleased to know her murderer did not go unpunished. We shall begin with her, then." He placed a finger on the crudely scribbled name and it vanished in flames. Light then looked up, still smiling, at the trembling Shinigami who was staring at him in open terror. "In case you are wondering what is going on, Ryuk: in... 31 seconds, you are going to suffer a heart attack like the one you gave dear Elspeth and I. And if you think _that_ hurts, if you think I'm being cruel _now_, then remember that what you are about to feel is nothing compared to what I have in store later on."

Ryuk's eyes widened and he began to struggle desperately, futilely, against the vines. The only result was that the thorns dug deeper, twisted further into his body and it hurt, heavens above it _hurt so fucking much_! How could a heart attack be more painful than...

Ah. That was how. A vice closed around his chest, and if it had left him any air to breathe, he was fairly sure he would have been given another scream. But no. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't move. There were a million stones and spikes being hurdled at him from the inside out, but all he could do was wheeze to try and alleviate the pressure, but instead making it ten times worse.

Dying.

He was dying! The cuts from the thorns were nothing compared to this. He was fucking DYING!

"How does it _feel_, Ryuk?" Light asked in a mock-caring voice. "Does it really, _really_ hurt?"

The only answer was another gasp of pain and tears streaming freely down a pale, white face. Light laughed. "Good!"

Ryuk looked on at the monster in front of him, the figure blurry and slowly fading. The world was shrinking, darkening and somehow he knew that if he just closed his eyes, everything would stop. If he just closed his eyes… it would be so easy… he just had to close his eyes.

So he did.

-

Ryuk woke up. He opened his eyes but everything seemed to be covered in haze and he couldn't make anything out. He was still in pain, but less of it now- was he dead?

"Hello again, Ryuk."

Apparently not. Ryuk blinked a few times to clear his vision, and sure enough, Light in all his hideous glory was standing in front of him, Death Note in hand.

"Now, let's see. What did Antonio Bragoli look like when he died, I wonder?" Light looked over the top of the Notebook at him. "Shame we're not going to find out, really." He leant over and dipped his finger in a rivulet of the blood that was still running down Ryuk's sides. With a small chuckle, he wrote something under the name with it, then turned the Death Note around.

_Antonio Bragoli_ it read, in Ryuk's scratchy writing, then _Burns to death_ in red blood that was beginning to dry as it trickled down the page. Light put his finger over it, and the words vanished as before.

"Forty seconds, Ryuk."

-

_Days later, they left Ryuk with the knowledge that there were at least a few more deaths lined up for him. His screams had been fun at first, but got somewhat tiring after a while. They ducked out of a portal in the side of the pit leading to the human world and began ascending the stairs._

"_Misa-Misa loves her Light-kun!" the girl shrieked, attaching herself to his arm and nuzzling her face into the rotten flesh. "Even though he doesn't look so good any more, but Misa has enough prettiness for the both of us, and..."_

"_...stop." He raised a hand over her head and she disintegrated without a sound, her dust falling down to the pit below. How often he'd wished to do that in life..._

_He grinned and continued on walking up the narrow stairs. Just one more annoyance left, but he was hardly planning on killing this one. Oh no, much more fun to have him alive._

_Alive and screaming._

_--_

**Authors' Notes:**

**shirosunday: **Well, I must say THIS was the most fun to do. I've never written horror and gore before, but I seriously like how this story turned out! Anyhoo, my lovable co-author, **Gabi**, said that this was supposed to be a three-shot neh? But since we love you all so much, we're giving a little extra for Halloween! Yay! XD Rejoice all you gore-loving people! So please be nice and drop some reviews for us on the way out neh? We've been working so hard on this story… :puppy dog eyes:

**Gabi:** Yes, what she said, pretty much. –grins- Seriously, the victim in the 'extra' surprised even **shiro**, so stay tuned! I know the style of this chapter's somewhat different to the others, but we reckoned Ryuk's mindset would be different to one like Matsuda's or Near's. If you don't like it, tell us what we can do to make it better- constructive crit is always good, honest!


	4. Epilogue

**---**

**Epilogue**

---

The landscape was barren, the gritty soil on the ground filled with bones and sharp-edged rocks. The withered shapes of what might once have been trees stood alone in the distance as dust and clouds swirled in the dark sky overhead.

A dark shape broke through the haze- a figure, flying with thorny wings over the dead world. The tree husks almost seemed to shiver as its shadow passed over them. The desolate soil was absent of any form of life, for they had long since learnt to stay well away from the area. Only the sand moved with the winds, making its way into the cracks and crevices of the dry carcasses scantily scattered about. It was quiet except for the steady beating of wings overhead.

The haunt of Kira was infamous for a reason, and even the other shinigami dared not cross their brother's path for fear of what he would do to them. In life, he had been regally evil – an exquisite face with a blackened soul. Death had stolen his beauty, but his mind was more twisted, more insanely malicious than ever.

He touched down lightly, nerveless feet insensitive to the sharp, hot stones beneath them. Despite its decay, his body retained the dancer's grace it had possessed in life and he stepped over the scorched ground like a prince of the dead.

Perhaps it was a fitting enough simile- it was certainly how he thought of himself.

Soon enough, he approached a shape that could only be described as resembling an egg, although even that metaphor failed to fully describe it. A liquid-like substance swirled within and a naked young man knelt beside the growth's opening, watching the substance with a look of dismay on his face as his fingers held on to the jagged edges tightly. He looked up at Kira's approach and shuddered, caramel brown eyes widening in apprehension. He let go of the strange round protuberance and shuffled backwards with his body curving into itself as if in protection.

"Honestly, little thing," Kira intoned softly. "I'd have thought you'd be used to me by now. You were the one that called me into being after all, Light Yagami." The boy shook his head fervently, a plaintive noise escaping his throat. By way of reply, Kira merely lifted the child's chin in his hand, making Light cringe, as he examined the black-stained scar over the vocal chords.

"That cut's taking its time to heal," he remarked like a doctor devoid of any compassion. "Although I suppose it's probably better for you, since you do realise than when it does, I'll just have to cut it all over again." He fingered the thorns on his wings meaningfully with his free hand, and the boy could not suppress a flinch.

"Light-kun. My darling, _darling_ Light-kun!" Kira laughed as he caressed Light's cheek with his rotted thumb. "Do you not understand? Your screams are infinitely pleasing to me, but your whining is not." He ran a black nail over the scar on the boy's throat, chuckling again as the boy hissed in pain. "I imagine it was much the same for dear Lawliet- at least, before you killed him."

Light's eyes widened in guilt and sorrow, and he looked away. Kira's eyes narrowed and he dug his purplish gray fingers roughly into the boy's chin until he looked back. "Yes, that was you- don't you try to deny it," he growled. "I gave you the strength to order it, and Rem wrote his name down, but it was still all your fault, and you know it!" Kira's grip suddenly softened and his face broke into a leer. "How does that make you _feel_, Light-kun?" he mocked into the 'perfect' face as tears leaked from the boy's eyes. "That bad, huh? Never mind- Kira will kiss it better."

Before the boy could respond, Kira curved his head down and pressed his black lips to a tearstained cheek, ghosting down to the jaw. Light gasped and Kira breathed out through his mouth, making the child inhale the stench of rotting flesh. The boy tried to push him away, but the cold, dead hands were stronger than his. Light's wrists were suddenly held in a vice-like grip, filthy nails digging into his skin and making him bleed. He squirmed helplessly, but the demon was far from finished. It was the work of a mere moment to pin the boy to the ground.

Kira sat astride his hips, trapping Light's hands down on either side of his head. The being sneered and his eyes shone bright red with malevolence. Kira leaned back down placing another reeking kiss along Light's jaw, as the child continued to whimper. The demon continued to kiss down the curve of his neck, and then sank his teeth into the filthy skin of Light's shoulder and smirking as the boy groaned – from pain, pleasure or disgust? Kira didn't care whatsoever.

"Really, I think those three I punished got off lightly. You see," he murmured like a lover, now trailing his mouth up the left side of the neck and face, flicking his blood-coated tongue as he licked his way up, "they can escape from me, if only into madness and death." His silken voice was slightly muffled against the now-broken skin. "You, on the other hand," he continued as he bit down on one ear making the boy gasp, "are mine. And I don't let my things go." Kira pulled back and looked straight into caramel eyes. One wrist was released and bloody fingers with peeling rotted skin wiped away the tear stains on Light's cheek. "Never," he whispered thickly as he leaned back down and placed a chaste kiss on the delicate skin; smirking as it elicited another shudder. "Never," he whispered again, as he licked the blood he smeared on the hopeless face. Slowly, black lips were aligning themselves over a quivering mouth…

"Not _ever_."

-_**Fin**_-


End file.
